Centauran (Millennium Era)
Category:OtherSpace_Races_%28Millennium_Era%29 Category:Encyclopedia Intergalactica Category:Playable Races (Millennium Era) Once known as strict pacifists, Centaurans are crystalline jellyfish-like beings who have shown their capacity for hostility in the past. Lovers of order and learning, they use their powerful telepathic talents to form a tightly-knit society. Natural abilities of self-levitation and glass-spinning make fantastic architectural works possible, and a three hundred and sixty degree visual field facilitates their powers of observation. =General= A peaceful but strong-willed race, the denizens of Centauri are known for their remarkable scientists, physicists and mathematicians. Centaurans can participate in spoken communication, which is more comfortable for many species than telepathy, using special electronic vocalizers. These convert manipulations of brainwaves into speech sounds and vice versa. Centaurans loathe violence and will, as a general rule, pursue diplomatic resolutions to any severe conflict. They are dedicated to the pursuit of science and exploration for peaceful ends, and find science for profit repugnant. Their long term and society-oriented solutions to problems, which may involve death and heavy responsibility, can appear to be coldly logical. But the use of telepathic consensus and their lack of facial expressions do not at all mean that decisions are made without the sharing of emotion. The motivations may simply be difficult for individualists to understand, and the expressions difficult for non-empaths to perceive clearly. Centaurans hold their species in regard above others, respecting the most those civilizations that feel no need to use their power and knowledge in flashy or violent displays. =Society= Their society is perhaps best summed up by 'collectivism.' Desiring privacy for its own sake and secrecy for personal reasons are regarded as pathological in Centaurans; the existence of these feelings in other races is a sometimes troubling, but well-recognized oddity. Some information is kept from the other races to prevent danger to themselves and others, but greater and freer communication is generally regarded as the means to a safe environment. Positive socialization and being able to sense organic minds are not only desirable for Centaurans, but essential for mental health. The open exchange of words and feelings among Centaurans allows them to find and treat a wide variety of behavioral and sociological problems (many of which would be regarded as personality traits by other races). To allow for innovation, some harmless eccentricities are allowed, guided by the stabilizing influence of neighbors and colleagues. Simple punishment is regarded as pointless; friendly persuasion, medical treatment, and re-education are used instead, and since antisocial problems are caught early by the telepathic communities, the individual's potential usefulness is largely preserved. If an individual does not respond to treatment, then it is useless to society. It is killed, and its body consumed and spun into new constructions. Aliens are sometimes seen as not worth the trouble of curing and can have odd notions like not wanting their violent tendencies repaired. Any visiting alien that poses violent danger is executed without question or trial. Population control is vital to the Centaurans, given their distaste for colonization. Whenever an important leader dies the Cycling occurs. The Cycling is roughly mass, coordinated suicide. Many Centaurans apply to participate in the Cycling, but few are chosen. To be chosen is considered a great honor, among the noblest possible conclusions of a Centauran's life. Participants in the cycling line up in concentric circles around the remains of their leader. They then fall to the ground, one after the other, shattering into pieces which are gathered up for important construction projects. =Roleplaying Tips= The most important thing to keep in mind when playing a Centauran is the lack of anything like human appendages. They have tentacles instead of hands, and tend to favor their telekinetic abilities to manipulate objects anyway. They do not have a native spoken language, but instead use telepathy. They lack mouths to smile with, as well. This can make roleplaying a Centauran a real challenge. They do have a few things to help them out. Centaurans have vocalizers which can give them a voice, tentacles to motion with, and their telepathic abilities give them 'waves of thought and emotion' which they can use to get their point across.